by Richard Gleeson
Northern News Services

NNSL (May 14/97) - Ethel Blondin-Andrew seems to be taking nothing for granted during this election campaign, despite the fact that she's a two-term MP.

She plans to visit each of the 32 communities in the riding during her 36-day, $100,000 campaign. Halfway through, she has visited half of them.

A member of the opposition during her first term in office, over the past three years Blondin-Andrew got a taste of the increased expectations and scrutiny government is subject to.

In an interview with Yellowknifer, Blondin-Andrew discussed some of the issues which she and the Liberals have been criticized most for.

The Liberal government came under fire from Northerners when it announced last year it introduced new gun control legislation.

"There's a significant difference between the original bill and the final bill," said Blondin-Andrew.

Among the Liberal campaign literature is a chart comparing the original and the revised bill.

Changes include:

• sustenance hunters and trappers, non-aboriginal and aboriginal, are exempt from licensing and registration fees

• clause ensuring treaty rights protected

• aboriginals allowed to borrow firearms without carrying with them registration certificate

• provisions in aboriginal regulations could be administered by communities.

In supporting the gun control bill while Northerners were protesting it, Blondin-Andrew was criticized for putting the interests of the party ahead of her constituents.

"I had to make a choice," she said. "Should I vote against the government, my cabinet colleagues and the prime minister and lose my position? I value that position very much because it's allowed me to help many Northerners in other ways."

Indifference is something few aboriginal leaders feel toward the Liberal government -- it represented two steps forward or two steps back, depending on who you talk to.

The target of that criticism and object of that praise, Ron Irwin, campaigned with Blondin-Andrew last week.

"He met with some of the leaders and I'm not prepared to second-guess his work," said Blondin-Andrew.

"I think we've made progress on some fronts and there's still a lot of work to do on others. I think if you're going to make progress, it takes co-operation from all sides."

One side that has been out of the decision-making process since the Liberals took office has been the Assembly of First Nations.

Blondin-Andrew confirmed what Dene Nation Chief Bill Erasmus said last week, that personality differences were at the core of that difficulty, but said AFN leader Ovide Mercredi must share the blame.

"I've always encouraged co-operation between Ovide and Ron, but it just hasn't happened. But it takes two. It's not just a one-sided thing."